Empathy (Human AU)
by An Ordinary Riceball
Summary: William hated humans. Ever since he could remember, he couldn't stand being around others. And he always found himself gloating over how disgusting and selfish, let alone predictable people could be. He hated how they all relied on others and hung in their stupid cliques. Above all, he just couldn't relate to them at all. Self-harm. Ed & Al are Wil's brothers. Trisha's alive.
1. Chapter 1

**Story: Empathy, Chapter 1 _((Human AU)) This will be e_** _ **ventual/slowbuild Lustvy.** **..**_

 ** _After watching FMA 2003, I just wanted Envy to find love in some family even if it's not in the canon world. And his suicide in Brotherhood reiterates my point._**

* * *

William hated humans; Couldn't relate to them at all. He looked down on their irrational judgement. However, hypocritically enough, he himself was short-tempered and often prone to violent outbursts and most kids avoided him out of fear or because they would be guilty by association. Needless to say it had proven to be pretty much impossible to retain friendships for William. It wasn't that he actually cared, though. Humanity was shit, after all, and he didn't need "friends", for they would only hold him back. In fact, William sometimes pushed people away like it was a game, and it could even be considered routine for him. So unless asked to by a superior, he was left alone.

Even his family typically left him alone, the only one that dared to interfere with him when his door said do not disturb was, of _course_ , Edward. "Hey, Wil, it's time to get up."

Willaim groaned at hearing the voice from the other side of the door. He really didn't want to get up today.

"You in there...? Hey!" Edward rose his voice, plain out pissing his older brother off. _Impatient as hell._

"Shut up! I hear you, you stupid pipsqueak!"

"Don't call me short when I was just trying to wake you up, geez!

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I offend you, midget? I was _already_ awake, so you were just being an annoyance." Willaim snapped maliciously. Not in the mood to be sociable.

"How was I supposed to tell the difference when your door is always closed?! Ugh, I'm done with you!"

As he heard Edward walk off and his steps disappeared down the hallway, William sat up in his bed, letting the covers fall down too his side.

Unknown to anybody but himself, faded scars and cuts littered his arms. They were covered by the jacket he always wore, or by a type of skin makeup that's really good at hiding scars unless somebody was looking for scars. So nobody would find out, unless they looked for it. And he doubted anybody would care enough to look for it. When he felt the need to dissociate or when his anger got to him too much, he didn't really think and would channel out his pent up frustration and pain through a physical pain. Nobody knew anything about it, and he had no plans of telling anybody about it either. It was his escape and it wasn't like he did it but once a week or so, anyway. He knew his limit and wasn't stupid enough to cut too deep. Not that he hadn't thought about it.

He looked himself in the mirror after slipping on some clothes and his black jacket. He brushed his long hair which insisted on looking like a fucking palm tree. He sighed, then made his way down stairs.

Walking down the hallway, he smelled pancakes.

Trisha was the first to notice his presence. "Oh, good morning Willaim."

Said teen just grunted in response. Scanning the room, he realized, Hohenheim had still not returned. Sometimes, he would go off for days and it was on those days William was oddly the most bitter. William didn't like Hohenheim at all, for too many reasons to count. The bastard had messed around with his mother, and then realized he screwed up when he saw she had a child. And rarely ever cared enough to visit him. And to top it off his bitchy mother was constantly talking shit about his father, and he didn't know what to believe. And then Dante and Hohenheim got into a huge fight one day and broke off everything. Despite the few promises Dante had made to her son, Dante just ended up dumping him on the father in the end. And Hohenheim started making promises to make up for what he had done, but he had simply started doing the same things as before. He didn't mind Trisha, but at the same time, he couldn't stand that she never seemed bothered by much and took everything with a kind smile. Somehow it still pissed him off, just like everybody else did. Scratch that, Trisha was just as bad.

"You should have said good morning, Brother. That's not very polite, you know."

"Whatever, I wasn't _asking_ for your _opinion_ , Alphonse." Willaim simply was in a bad mood and felt like being pissed off today. It was all he could do. Envying people and being a bitter person in general was all he seemed to be able to do anyway. It wasn't like he had any special talents to spend his time on.

"Sorry..." Alphonse looked away, ashamed. He could tell that his eldest Brother was not feeling well, and wished he could do something.

"You don't have to be so hateful towards Al just because your in a bad mood, you know!" Edward snapped.

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm _always_ in a bad mood!" Willaim retorted, glaring.

"Yeah, well-"

"That's enough, boys." Trisha cut them off in a soft voice, bringing a pile of pancakes to the table than Edward and Alphonse were sitting at. "Now let's eat, okay? You can't grow up strong without your nutrition."

"Oh, wow. These look delicious, mom!" Alphonse said, but the air still felt stiff now. Willaim sighed.

"I'm not hungry. I'm leaving."

Before Trisha could turn around say anything, William had already left, slamming the front door behind him.

"What the hell is _his_ problem...?" Edward grumbled. "Just because he's irritated doesn't mean he has to irritate everybody else.

"Language, Edward."

"No, I mean it. William pisses me off sometimes." Edward, not paying his mother much mind. Trisha sighed.

"I hope he's okay..." Alphonse mumbled, in worry.

"I couldn't care less..." Edward mocked. Even though Trisha and Alphonse knew that Edward was just too prideful to admit that he was worried as well.

 _End of Chapter 1_

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 ** _A/N: What did you guys think? After watching FMA 2003, I just wanted Envy to find love in some family even if it's not in the canon world. And his suicide in Brotherhood reiterates my point._**


	2. Chapter 2 (Reupload)

**Empathy, Chapter 2 (reupload)**

 **Note: Seeing as some of you apparently did not like this being a school AU, I'm going to go with something else, but leave the school au on my AO3 page(Karinakamichi), so you can still see both versions and just choose the one you prefer.**

* * *

William had memories of being extremely young and trying all he could to get his father's attention. Sure, once in a while, the man would offer a "job-well-done", but it never was long before he was gone from his life again. He was absent for weeks, sometimes even months, and rarely ever came around. The boy had never cared one way or another to get in between his father and his mother's disagreements, but he hated how Hohenheim didn't seem to want to deal with him. And slowly, his hatred for him got more and more intense.

When his father left for long periods of time, it always put him on edge and increased his usual hostility and irritability ten fold. He often would forget what he was doing and would fall into a broody introspection. On his worst days, he typically even start hating himself and envying everybody around him, and was bothered by the smallest things; insignificant things that nobody else gave a shit about. Sometimes he would obsess over them. When he heard people talking about their families in any positive light, he grew irritated and couldn't help but seethe with jealousy. Hell, he usually envied everything and everybody in some way, but their ability to be happy and rely on others, to have somebody they trusted and could rely on, was what he envied the most, and on certain days it was simply much worse, even if nothing brought it on or triggered it, it sometimes just consumed him. Sometimes, it even made him want to lash out at others. Like right now.

If anybody spoke to him, perhaps the kids that were walking and talking amongst themselves a little ways over, somebody was going to get hurt bad. Even though none of them spoke to him, one of them did briefly glance at him. It was a woman who had wavy black hair hair around about as long as his own. She was the only one of them that wasn't saying anything. In fact, she seemed to carry a look of disinterest about whatever they were muttering about. She was a few feet behind them and seemed detached from the group itself.

Even though it was only a brief exchange of glances, somehow William felt irked when he had some strange sense that her eyes reflected his own. He didn't believe in fate or crap like that, but he felt like in that moment, he wanted to believe she was somehow similar to him, filled with hatred for the world and it's inhabitants, or at least he wished. No, he was just overthinking it. It was just a stupid glance anyway. Come to think of it, he was pretty sure he hadn't seen her in the area even though the other boys looked slightly familiar. Maybe she was new to the area?

Either way, with her looks, she would probably attract a lot of unwanted attention, and could probably have her way with anybody she wanted to if they were even remotely gullible to a woman with good looks. He'd rather not throw out assumptions, but she frankly looked the part of a player and was dressed rather seductively. He would be lying if he said she wasn't attractive, but that admittance would bring on more thoughts than he needed right now, so he pushed those thoughts to the back of his head, and went back to thinking about other things.

It wouldn't be long before he realized how right some of his assumptions were. Of course he dismissed these things, without thinking further into them, not considering he might see the female again.

...

William sat on a park bench, hoping to get a moments rest.

That's when somebody sat beside him. He didn't even have to look up to know it was Edward.

"What do you want?" the older boy muttered to his little brother. Edward's eyes brifely widened slightly, with a conflicted look as if he wanted to say something, before looking away.

" _Nothing_..." Edward muttered, looking away.

As soon as he did that, somebody walked over and engaged conversation with Edward.

William felt a great irritation at this. He had planned to sit alone, not surrounded by people. So he got up, beginning to walk off.

A small part of him couldn't help but feel bitter over his brother having friendships. He was pathetic, even coveting a child over something like that. Perhaps it was attachment issues caused his father or the years of hearing the pessimistic views of his mother that had rubbed off on him, but Envy didn't trust people, and pretty much had an inability to be even somewhat happy unless he was pissing people off. But even then he was subconsciously channeling out feelings of resentment and jealousy and other feelings he didn't want to think about into something else. Envy didn't like focusing on himself, but he tended to a lot more than was probably healthy.

"Wait, Wil, there's something I wanted to tell you, but I..." Edward's voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Looking behind him he saw Edward there, avoiding eye contact. However, when William looked to him in expectancy, Edward tried to speak, but in the end, Edward lost his resolve.

"It's nothing."

...

In truth, Edward had wanted to confront William. He may have not been the greatest at reading people, but it suddenly dawned on him that William's agitation tended to rub off on his own when their father wasn't around. He wanted to tell his brother than he wasn't alone and that he could rely on them, but he hadn't been able to find the words, for pride. The words just got stuck in his throat each time he tried being remotely supportive. The truth was he didn't understand William as well as Alphonse. William had only came into his life five years prior, and as such, Edward hadn't even known he had an older half brother until then. He didn't understand him most of the time, and they could never seem to get along. In truth, something in him wanted to, but he could never go through with it. This knowledge only made Edward more frustrated. Even if the older boy was kind of a stranger and they didn't understand each other, Edward knew he should at least try, because that was still his brother. And a part of him, irrefutably cared. But the majority of him didn't know what to do, so he just let the opportunity slide by like always.

 _End of Chapter 2_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Empathy Chapter 3**_

 _ **I hope this isn't too angsty or melodramatic. Man, I'm so messed up. I'm sorry. Next chapter, we'll get to see a bit of Alphonse's dynamic with William and maybe a tiny bit more of Solaris. Also, question: What's a good human name for Greed? I don't think he had one.**_

* * *

"Brother, don't you William has been acting weird lately?" Alphonse asked Edward, with a downcast glance. He had noticed how William had been more reclusive anymore. Come to think of it, so had Edward, though not to the degree of the William.

"A little, I guess." Edward muttered, secretly trying to avoid admitting he had started to talk to him. He was lying on the couch on his side with his arm draped over his face and his back faced towards Alphonse. "What about it? It's not like we can do anything about it."

In truth, Edward had thought about confronting William since he last talked to him, but he couldn't come up with a sentence that wouldn't be interpreted as annoying by the eldest brother. He had already been growled at once, no sense in getting growled at another time.

Besides, Edward understood part of what William was feeling, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Unlike Alphonse, who tried to remain neutral, as to not take sides(at least on most things), Edward felt resentment for different reasons than William.

Edward couldn't forgive Hohenheim for making his mother suffer. Even if she tried to hide it, he could tell that she was still lonely, and struggling. Even if she tried to smile and act like things were okay, Edward wasn't blind and he knew that both Alphonse and even William had noticed them before. The side glances she gave when nobody thought she noticed or would care to notice. And he could tell that her smile was forced. And those reasons alone were reason enough to not like their father, but there was more to it than that.

Edward could also see the pain that Hohenheim had caused William. Even if it was only his half brother, Edward still cared, and still felt his pain even though he didn't know how to go about it. Edward wanted William to know he wasn't alone, but he knew that in his own experience, there wasn't much he could say to console him, just like nobody could say anything to truly console Edward himself. It would only cause him to feel more empty he was sure.

So Edward had decided to just leave his older brother be. Maybe it wasn't particularly ethical, but it was all he could do as far as he was concerned. Alphonse seemed to know that Edward was not going to speak further, and decided to not press him anymore. Edward, after all, could be just as scary as William at times when he was angry enough. So he sighed, looking away.

"Fine..." He stood up. "If you won't talk to him, then I _will_."

" _Break a leg._ " Edward said sarcastically.

"Well, you should at least clean up while I'm out, Brother." Alphonse mumbled, scrutinizing the food wrappers and bowls lying around.

"Shut up... It's not that messy and if you don't like it, you should just go to your own ro-!" Edward snapped, surprised by his own hostile tone of voice.

"OKAY! You don't have to be so mean about it!" Alphonse shouted back. Edward flinched, his stomach turning, upon hearing Al raise his voice, something he rarely ever did, since he was the least expressive and most humble of all three of the brothers. Edward almost felt guilty, but wouldn't allow himself to apologize. "I wouldn't if you would stop nagging at me about talking to that jerk of a brother."

"As far as I can tell, you're the only one being a jerk...!" Alphonse retorted and with that he left, before Edward could say anything else.

Edward felt extremely bitter at the last comment, but didn't say anything. How the hell was he less of a jerk than William? William is the one that didn't let anybody in and sat around hating the world because he was wronged by their father.

" _At least we have a loving biological mother... He doesn't have that."_

A voice from the past interjected his other thoughts. It was Alphonse.

Now that he thought of it, Trisha wasn't William's biological mother, though she had accepted him as one of her own, but nobody had questioned how he felt about it. From what Edward had heard, Dante was extremely controlling and manipulative. At least Edward had the luxury of being born from a kind mother.

William had been pushed and pulled between his parents and then came to their house and never had a truly consistent family. He probably felt like he didn't belong.

Still, that didn't give him a right to fuss at everybody. And nothing would change his feelings on that. William was too temperamental, and aggressive. He was always irritated and never smiled. Why couldn't he just see that people cared about him? Hell, he was ungrateful and probably didn't deserve what he had. Sure, Edward had his own problems with some of that, but it surely wasn't as bad as William's. Alphonse had mentioned he could be as scary as William at times, if not more, but Edward disagreed.

Of course, Edward was being prideful at the moment, and didn't want to admit that he was more in the wrong than William at the moment. It was Alphonse's own fault for bugging him.

He got up, about to confront Alphonse further, the make his point, but upon entering the living room, he saw that Alphonse had already left. Trisha, who was standing in the kitchen looked back at him. "Oh, Edward, your brother seemed upset. Did you say something mean again?"

"No..." He said, looking down. Dammit, he couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes.

"Edward..."

"Well, maybe I did go a _little_ overboard, but it's his own fault for fussing at me over stupid things..."

"It can't be stupid if you're both worked up and are worrying over it, now can it...?"

"I'm not worried about William." Edward stubbornly insisted, despite himself, just to keep up his appearance. He had already said he wasn't worried, so he refused to back down while he was as irritated as he was at the moment.

"Say..., why don't you and I go shopping do some shopping to get your mind off of this, hmm?" Trisha smiled softly, rubbing his head. When Edward was like this, there wasn't much she could do, except to destract him. He always calmed down a bit after participating in some kind of activity.

"Mom..." Edward mumbled, looked down, as if he was feeling guilty over something.

"What is it, Ed?"

"I..."

Trisha didn't know what could be upsetting him, but didn't press him for an answer, and instead waited patiently.

"Do you... miss dad when he's not around...?" Edward choked out, forcing himself to ask the question that nobody had ever dared to ask her.

Trisha's eyes widened at the question. She had always been afraid her children would notice and question their father's inconsistent presence.

"How can you just act like everything is okay...? He's never around when he should be and... I can't stand seeing you hurting all the time! I try my best to make you happy, but I don't know what to do, and it becomes overwhelming... I just want you to smile like you used to... Why do you smile if you're hurting?" Edward's eyes filled with tears. He was afraid that Trisha would be mad at him, and though he wanted to say so much more, he didn't want to say anything bad about the person she loved in front of her. He couldn't bring himself to do such a thing, especially since she had better memories of him than Edward did.

Trisha didn't know what to say at first, but after a moment, she suddenly pulled Edward into an embrace, tears feeling up in her eyes. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but your Father loved me and you boys very much."

It would be a lie to say that Trisha didn't get lonely without Hohenhiem around. It would be a lie to say that she didn't find it hard to take care of Edward and Alphonse at times, and even William, but that would never take away her love for her sons, and to hear Edward even implying that it might be his own fault that he couldn't make his mother happy, hurt Trisha more than anything, because her love for her sons was so deep.

"Then why is he never around, mom?" Edward wrapped his small arms around her, the tears refusing to fall.

 _Why did he abandon us?_ The words got caught on his tongue and wouldn't come out.

"He just doesn't have any faith in himself to be a good father. And I may miss him, but there hasn't ever been a single time that having you and your brothers in my life hasn't make me happy. I love you, Edward... and I always will."

And with those words, Trisha broke down. Upon hearing her crying, Edward felt his own resolve dropping. He didn't know what to do. He had never seen his mother crying, and had rarely ever been put in the position of comforting. So he couldn't bring himself to say anything. He just let her hug him and cry over her shoulder.  
"It's not your fault, Edward. None of this is."

Edward then broke down himself.

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 _ **A/N: What do you guys think? Review if you can.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Empathy, Chapter 4**_  
 _ **Greed's name is Lucien, I decided, but if you guys have a better name I should have went with, let me know. Also, Greed and Lust are NOT together, but Greed is flirtatious to her, only more as a joke, just to provoke her. So they are just friends that are really close, kind of like siblings. Though they might as well be siblings in this. I'm gonna have Greed be really protective over her and Envy eventually too, since he IS Greedy.**_

Also, I fixed the spelling of Willaim to William. I don't know why I keep doing that even though I know how it's spelled.

ALSO, please note that Lust is 16, but I'm using the term woman because it's the only term I could find. People do say "young lady".

* * *

William sat at the same place he had been sitting at for the past few hours.

He watched absentmindedly as some kids were horse-playing, and then noticed a family walking by.

"Mom, can you make stew tonight?" a child asked.

"Mommy's not feeling very good right now, honey, but I'm sure if you ask daddy nicely, he'll be glad to." the mother patted her head.

"Aww, but his cooking sucks." the girl looked down.

"That's not very nice." said the mother.

"He's fine. But my cooking isn't that bad, is it?" The father laughed.

Upon seeing the interaction, William didn't even want to hear the rest. A bitter expression sat on his face as it reminded him of the family he should have had. He was filled with envy for the little boy's happy life. As much as he hated his father, a nagging question lingered at the back of his mind. _How would I have turned out if I had actually grown up in a normal family? Would I have been able to be truly happy? Why does that kid get to have a normal life?_

 _She doesn't deserve it._

A sudden urge came over William to hurt the child for having what _he_ **couldn't** have, what _he_ wanted, and though he didn't act on it, he was reminded of something his mother had said to him when he was a child.

 _"This world is an unfair place. Some people are born into families that will give them everything while others often work hard their entire lives and get nothing in return even though they do deserve it. Your father abandoned you because he's a coward. But I provided you with the things you needed. You see, I'm the only one who has ever been there for you, so you needn't even think about him, okay?"_

It was odd, though. No matter what Dante had done for or said to him, she had never once claimed to love him. Even when he tried to get close to his own mother, the woman had only ever pushed him away and dehumanized his emotions, unless it came to one matter - Van Hohenheim. She would only show compassion if she could understand it first hand, and even that "compassion" were words of negativity directed at the world around him, and just left William feeling more pessimistic than before. It was never to say that things would get better, or giving other options to deal with things. In Dante's mind, the world had no positives, and as such it rubbed off on her son.

Oddly enough, he somehow still wanted her attention. And a part of him still wanted to believe she cared for him. Maybe it was just human instinct to want your parents' approval and love, but he wasn't proud. And, unlike Hohenheim, Dante had at least stuck around, even if it was for her own selfish goals. If anything, he hated himself for wanting any kind of affection from anybody, let alone his parents.

William had lived under the belief that he had probably never been truly happy, but at this point, he was so used to it that it wouldn't be him if he _was,_ so he couldn't care less, he just wished that, since he wasn't happy, that others weren't happy either.

"Hey, babe. I couldn't help but notice that you've been sitting there for quite a while now." A fairly deep voice knocked him out of his thoughts. He looked over and saw a guy, who was probably in his late teens or even early twenties, standing there. He had dark, short and slightly spiked hair. Round sunglasses covered his eyes. He wore a sleeveless jacket that had white fur lining the collar. He smirked, pointing at himself. "How's it going? The name's Lucien. But you can call me Luci if you want."

This wasn't the first time somebody had mistaken William as a female. It didn't particularly bother him, considering that even though he technically considered himself a guy, gender stereotypes were too much of pain to take serious. But it did kind of irritate him that the man was clearly flirting with him.

"Tch, you wouldn't know how long I've been here unless you were stalking me or something. Also, I'm _not_ a girl."

"Leave the poor human alone, Lucien." Another voice joined in, scolding the man. Her voice was almost soothing, but threatening at the same time. Glancing over, William was slightly surprised to see that was the same female he'd seen before. Her gaze met his, as she used her left hand to comb through the ends of her flawless raven hair, the obsidian waves falling back into a perfect form as her fingers passed through. "You'll have to forgive him, he's a bit of a womanizer."

Upon closer inspection, William saw that her facial features were unbelievably beautiful. Her face looked practically porcelain and she favored a doll. In fact, if she weren't moving and this were elsewhere, William might have thought she _was_ one. She wore a jacket that, like Lucien's, had white fur lining on the collar, though hers had long sleeves and and was ankle length. Whether it was coincidence or an actual trend he didn't know, but William didn't really care about fashion. He assumed they were together, and, for some reason, felt bitterness at that.

"Ah, come on, hun. That was a bit hypocritical of you, don't you think?..." Lucien said, teasingly. "But, really, I was just playing with..."

He looked back, pointing at William as if his statement had finally just sunk in. "so, wait,... Let me get this straight...You're a _guy_ then?"

"Yeah, technically speaking... but I'd prefer to not buy into that gender nonsense. I am whatever I _want_ to be." William said, with an edge to his voice. After a moment of looking dumbfounded, Lucien burst out laughing.

"Ha-ha-ha! I certainly didn't expect tha- OW!" he was cut short when the girl grabbed his ear, and squeezed it.

"Didn't I just say to leave them alone?" she said, with slight irritation. William couldn't help but be surprised when she called him a them. He supposed it was her being respectful, because his previous comments on his gender may have came off as contradictory.

"Geez, _fine_ , I was just teasing him!" Lucien growled at her.

"Come on." she told him, ignoring his retort.

William wanted to say something, but he stopped upon hearing another voice. "Brother!"

It was Alphonse.

"What do you want? Don't tell me your precious mommy overworked herself or something again." William smirked sardonically and tiredly, before he glared at his younger half brother, noticing Lucien and the female walking off. He wished he had asked for her name. Alphonse seemed taken aback, by William's hostility and almost lost his resolve to confront him, but refused to back down. Alphonse knew that if he said anything about William's 'joke', William would be more than ready to try and provoke him, so he acted like William hadn't said anything, despite how much he wanted to slap his oldest brother for such a comment. Edward probably would have punched him.

"I came here because I wanted to talk to you." Alphonse said, averting his gaze. "May I sit down?"

"Fine, but hurry and spit it out. I don't have all day to talk about things." William muttered. Actually, he had been here all day because he _didn't_ have anything to do, but that was just his way of saying he wasn't in a very sociable mood and had wanted to get away from the house.

"I wanted to know if you're feeling okay..." Alphonse started with uncertainty.

"I'm _fine_." William growled, rolling his eyes. "Is that all?"

He _really_ didn't want to discuss his feelings.

"We're _all_ hurting because of dad, you know-" and that was enough to set William off.

"Look, I don't give a shit about what _you're_ feeling! I don't care what _Edward_ is feeling, or even what my own _mother_ is feeling! All I know is that that bastard doesn't care that he abandoned us, okay? So just drop it." William looked over to realize that several people were looking at them, including the girl and guy from before, who had moved over a ways, and were talking to somebody else now. Alphonse edged back a bit at his brothers harsh tone.

 _Shit,_ William mentally cursed. _I probably look like a fool now. But screw them. I don't fucking care what they think._

"He doesn't love any of us," he decided to finish his thought, but more quieter, but no less irritably. However there was clearly pain in the older boy's eyes he spoke this time. "so we shouldn't even be upset over it, but yet here we are clinging to these bullshit feelings of attachment anyway without any reason... I don't get it, and I don't care to understand it either."

"I know it hurts, but you don't have to deal with it alone..." Alphonse said, noticing that they were being watched.

"I don't need you patronage, Alphonse." William said, but his voice didn't carry much weight behind it at this point.

"Do you know them?" He looked up when the question was thrown at him by his brother.

"Who?" William asked, confused for a second.

Alphonse pointed to Lucien and the woman. "I saw you talking with them and thought they might be your friends."

"Tch, they aren't my friends, and I barely know them. I kind passed by the girl earlier on the side-walk earlier, though. But only the guy gave me his name. And it's none of your business anyway."

William would be lying if he said he didn't want to get to know the woman at least.

"You _like_ her, don't you?" Alphonse smiled after a moment, to tease him. Obviously, there was no proof of anything, but it was more Alphonse's way of encouraging his brother to make a friend if he could.

"Shut up!" William snapped, wanting to punch Alphonse in the face, when he once again caught _her_ eye. Did she just smirk?! William turned away, nothing going unnoticed by Alphonse.

"It's not like that at all...!" He hissed at his brother, his face heating up when he noticed several other people were staring once again. "What the hell are _you_ looking at?!"

They immediately turned away from him.

"You're going to make a scene if you keep shouting, you know." Alphonse told him.

"And it'll be your fault for talking to me in the first place." William deadpanned.

"I think you should go ask her for her name. I'm sure she won't mind."

"Nah, I'll pass." William said, trying to appear nonchalant. "If it's that important, I'll find it out sooner or later anyway.

"Well, I'll go and ask then if you want." Alphonse offered, irritating William.

"No, fine. I'll _do_ it." The older grumbled. _Stupid brother._

 _If Alphonse asked her, I'd only seem more desperate than otherwise_.

So he approached her. "Out of curiosity, can I ask for your name?"

Lucien was laughing and talking to another guy at the moment, but the raven haired woman turned around at William's voice, giving a small smirk, as she folded her arms, scrutinizing him with a slightly amused expression, as the fur lining on her jacket, as well as her hair began to gently blow in the breeze, making her figure stand out even more.

"How funny. Isn't it only polite to give your own name first before asking for somebody else's?" She said, her eyes meeting his, practically staring through his very being. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by her as she placed a hand on his shoulder with a smirk. "You shouldn't worry so much, _William._ I was only joking, after all..."

She leaned in a bit and told him, "And it's Solaris."

 _~ End of Chapter_

* * *

 _ **A/N: What do you guys think? I hope this isn't too out of character. THERE WILL BE MORE GREED AND ENVY DEVELOPMENT EVENTUALLY TOO. :D  
**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Empathy Chapter 5**_

* * *

"Mom, can we get some cereal?" Edward asked, holding up box of said breakfast item.

"Sure. Why don't we get several boxes while we're at it, hmm?" Trisha smiled slightly, recieving a nod and "okay" from the blonde, as he picked a few boxes of various cereal into the cart. They had picked up some items like cheese, milk, eggs, beef and a few other things like laundry detergent that they were running low on.

After a short while, she recalled that there was something that William had asked her to pick up. What was it again? She couldn't remember. William wasn't the type to typically ask for much of anything to begin with, so she thought she would have remembered, but oddly, despite that, she just couldn't place what it was for the life of her. She looked to her son, who was fumbling with some cookies. "Edward, do you remember what it was that William said he needed?"

Edward looked up at her, not sure what it was at first, but then remembered. However, before he spoke, he stopped himself, feeling bitterness once again set in, and he lied. "No, I can't remember right off hand."

"If only I could remember." Trisha said, thinking about it for a moment, before smiling a bit. "Oh, well, I guess I'll ask him later."

While Edward did feel guilty for lying to his mother, since she hadn't done anything wrong, he didn't back down from his resolve. As far as he was concerned, William deserved that much. Besides, it was his fault for never being around to help her with anything. He would have got what he needed if he hadn't ran off.

And, anyway, William wasn't likely gonna get hurt in the next few days. So he surely wasn't in any immediate need of bandages or bandage wraps. Though it seems Trisha would normally remembered such an item anyway, and recognize that they would need more soon, so she must have been a bit distracted at the moment. Of course, in Edward's childish mind, it wasn't too serious, so he didn't bother thinking into it much.

-  
"You forgot the bandages?!" Trisha knew he might be upset over it, but she didn't think that he would get this angry.

"You would have got them if you had actually been there." Edward grumbled, with satisfaction.

"You stay out of this!" William snapped, glaring.

"Well, then don't fuss at mom like it's her fault!"

"It doesn't take a genius to remember _bandages_! This is _your_ fault too. You were there! You should have said something, and I know that _both_ of you didn't forget something so basic!"

"Yeah, well, maybe I didn't _feel_ like reminding her!" Edward snapped, his breath catching in his throat when he gave himself away.

"Boys, try to calm down, please." Trisha told them. Alphonse had went into the bathroom, otherwise he probably would have been the one to tell them to stop fighting.

"I WAS calm before now! Maybe you should scold him for lying to you, _mother dearest_!" William retorted, before walking out of the house, telling them. "I'm going to the store to get my bandages."

"Edward, why did you lie to me?" Trisha asked kneeling down when she noticed the way he was biting his lip.

He was obviously ashamed. "Because he's always a jerk to you to and you don't do anything about it. I was mad..."

"William has been through a lot, Ed. I've told you before, haven't I?"

"I know, _"we've got to be patient with him."_ and I'm _trying_ to! I'm sorry, mom..." He said, hugging her. Trisha gave a saddened looked, but returned the hug.

"Good, now go apologize to you brother, okay?"

"Alright." Edward nodded, before running out to catch up with his brother.

"Be careful going out. It's getting dark. Stay right by your brother's side, alright?"

"I know, mom!" Edward moaned, at being treated like a child, before making his way to catch up with his brother.

 _-End of chapter_

* * *

 _ **To Guest: We will see more of Alphonse soon enough. And no, William doesn't truly hate his brothers, he just has extremely mixed feelings on them, since they are also Hohenheim's sons, much like in the 03 series. He's just confused and frustrated and is going through a rough period in time.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Empathy, Chapter 6. This was so hard to write, I hope it turned out well.**_

* * *

William was seething. He didn't ask for much, but bandages were the one thing he expected without question. He _needed_ them. Because if his secret was found out, he didn't know what he'd do. Edward, that bastard, had done that shit on purpose just to spite him, probably for shouting at him for waking him up. That was his own damn problem.

To be honest, William knew he had probably overreacted a bit, and it wasn't like he _enjoyed_ being angry all the time- _No_ , scratch that. He _hated_ being angry all the time, but he had grown so used to hating the world and the people around him that he honestly, wasn't easily able to "just be calm" when somebody did something to piss him off. He envied Trisha for her ability to stay calm under pressure, and wanted to hate her for being what he couldn't. He also envied his brothers for their ability to rely on each other and love their mother, more importantly embrace that love.

Like right now. He didn't want to notice his brother there, but he couldn't help it. The little pest was impossible to ignore.

"...Why are you following me...?!" He finally snapped, turning around.

"Mom told me to come with you." Edward tried to reason with him, only to be shouted at again.

"Look, I don't need a _babysitter_ to walk with me!" William growled. "Actually, whatever. Just don't talk to me."

 _You're the one who talked to him first,_ Logic told him.

Edward seemed to listen and just walked a couple feet behind him, speeding up to catch up every so often. Neither brother talked for about five minutes, before William had had enough.

"You know, I wouldn't be going anywhere right now to begin with if you hadn't _lied_ to her about the bandages...!" he pointed out. Edward immediately wanted more than anything to give a retort, to piss William off, but he had pretty much made an unspoken promise to his mother that he would apologize to his brother.

So he had to try. "I know, what I did was wrong, and I'm sorry."

Even though Edward's apology was a little forced, he did know that it had been wrong to lie, though moreso to get Trisha caught up in a dispute between them when it had nothing to do with her. She hadn't deserved that. "But you owe mom an apology too. For being a jerk to her when it wasn't her fault."

Even if William knew than Edward was right, he refused to admit it, and refused to let him tell him what to do or push him around.

"I don't owe anybody _anything_." he growled out, trying to punch Edward with his fist. Much to his irritation, the bastard caught it before he could land a blow.

"...See that?" Edward glared, but had a small look of satisfaction. "You can't _always_ solve everything with your violence, William."

William glared, when Edward's grip tugged on his sleeve, causing him to flinch at the pain. "You bastard...!"

"We all try our best to be nice to you, but you're constantly treating mom like shit. I hope you know that I'm not gonna sit around kissing your ass to keep from offending you! _I'm_ the bastard? Why don't you look at yourself for once!?"

"Don't talk about me like you understand anything! You don't know shit about me! A guy like you who's spent his whole life surrounded by people has no right to tell me _anything_!"

"You're right! I don't understand anything about you. There's no way I could know everything you've been through, even if I _wanted_ to because, for _one_ , I'm not you! And, nextly, you never let anybody in on anything! And aside from the fact that I have a family and some companionship, what do you really know about me? You haven't seen what I've seen either! You don't know all that I've been through anymore than I know what _you've_ been through! None of that matters, because we're all just humans, and ALL have been through shit we don't want to think about...! And instead of facing that, you'd rather just accept things and play the role of some tragic deliquent. You're nothing but a cowar-!"

"Shut up! It's easy for _you_ to say that!" William shouted, pushing Edward over to where his back was facing the ground, and he was sitting on top of him. "Since you're so optimistic, I'll spell it out for you. Everywhere you look, people are commiting _crimes_ , Edward. Parents are either abusing or neglecting their children, or have you forgotten how our own father abanoned us?!"

Edward eyes widened, and he looked away, not wanting to face it.

"There's nothing good about this world, or the people in it, everything in it is shit. Why the hell would I want to face a god forsaken world like that?"

"You're right..." Edward choked out, looking up at his brother with a painfilled expression. "This world does suck, but if you can't _find_ any hope, then why not create it, like Mom gives to _us_. It's better than sitting around, brooding over how terrible this world is...!"

"Just shut up already!" William raised his fist, but couldn't bring himself to throw the punch. Why the hell was he holding back?!

That's when Edward said it. The words that, more than anything, he really didn't want to hear right now. "Or what? You'll hit me? Go ahead. It'll just prove that I'm right."

"In case you haven't learnt by now, that's _all I know how to fucking do_!" There was a crashing sound. Edward had closed his eyes, expecting to get punched in the face, but he was surprised when he reopened them to see that William had just punched the ground beside him. William's face was hidden by his hair, as he looked away, not saying another word. Then he stood up, starting to walk off. Whatever expression he was making, Edward couldn't tell.

"Hey, are you okay...?" he brought himself to ask softly, showing some concern for his older brother for the first time that day and a while in fact, as he got up, following after him.

"I'm fine. I don't need your concern." William grumbled, keeping his words short, their previous conversation completely abandoned. His voice, however sounded strained.

"...If you don't mind me asking, why do you feel such a strong need to keep bandages around? You act like they're a lifeline to you or something, so I was wondering. Are you hurt somewhere?"

Edward couldn't have seen his cuts, right? William felt a bit of panic at the thought, but in the case that Edward didn't know, he had to stay as calm as possible, his obviously swelling hand considered. "I just like to be prepared. Doesn't anybody, pipsqueak?"

"I told you to stop calling me little! I was just asking a question...!"

William didn't say anything in response, even though he would normally mock his little brother about his reaction, but he didn't. Edward realized that something was wrong. He gave a deep breath.

Both of them were just tired, nothing was wrong, William wasn't hiding anything, and Edward certainly wasn't worried. Or so he had wanted to tell himself before, but now Edward was sure that something was wrong.

Long sleeves, constant need for bandages, flinching when his arm had been rubbed. Maybe William had been getting into fights or something of the sorts recently. But Edward knew that William _was_ injured, whatever the cause of it may be.

But he wasn't going to say anything, and didn't know what he could say at this point. What _should_ he say?

...  
That night, William lied in bed, thinking back over the day's events. Meeting Solaris and Lucien honestly hadn't been so bad, and he was somewhat looking forward to meeting back up with them again. But then all the things that had transpired this evening had left him with a splitting headache, and anxiety that just wouldn't leave him alone. Scratching at his wrist, he began to wonder. What would Edward do if he found out? What would Solaris and Lucien think if they saw the cuts? Or Alphonse or Trisha? Especially his own mother and father, who had never truly seemed to care to begin with. They'd probably all think he was insane. Hell, he already knew he was, but he couldn't change it, no matter _what_ Edward said.

Unlike Edward, he just didn't know how to deal with people at all. And to top it off, he couldn't stop thinking about his father and mother. And every other possible thought he didn't want to think about was swarming in his mind. He scratched at his wrist even harder. It wouldn't leave him alone, even if he wanted to forget about it. Feelings of anger, resentment, depression, and so many other things set in once again to consume him, and he was left to deal with his feelings again. Alone.

So he did exactly what he did every other time his emotions became too much for him to cope with. Bleed.

He refused to cry about anything.

 _~End of chapter.~_

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hope this was a decent chapter.**_

 _ **To guest: Sorry I misread your comment. W;;;**_


	7. Chapter 7 (REUPLOAD)

_**Empathy, Chapter 7**_

 **I REUPLOADED THIS BECAUSE OF SOME BULLSHIT FF dot net did where it repeated a section of my story several time and overwrote a whole other several sections. I'm so pissed at this website now.**

* * *

When William woke up, the first thing he saw was red. The Bathtub was filled with bloody water. His vision was foggy, but he felt no less sick at the sight beneath him as realization set in. He must have passed out from blood-loss.

That's when he heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"Brother, please open up or say something...!" Alphonse's voice called from the other side of the door. "Are you okay? He's not answering, Edward, I'm scared."

Alphonse rarely ever called Edward by his first name, it was something he only did to keep others from being confused, or because he was in a high stress situation.

"Calm down, I know." Edward replied. "Something's wrong... We'll have to get Mom to open up the door."

As soon as he heard that, William felt an unexplained fear, and knew he needed to say something before somebody found out what he had done to himself. "I'm fine, you idiots. I just fell asleep."

William shakily got out of the tub, and pulled the plug on the bathtub.

"Oh, that's such a relief! I'm so glad you're okay!" Alphonse replied almost immediately, ecstatic to know he was okay, and not suspecting that William was lying about 'just falling asleep'. "I almost thought you'd died or something!"

"Yeah, well, I'm okay now, so you can leave, alright?" William told him, recieving an "Alright" in return. He dried off his arms, panicking when he realized he had got a bit of blood on the towel. Since his arms had been in the water, the cuts hadn't had time to dry and blood was still oozing from his wounds slightly, so he decided to use paper towels instead. " Maybe nobody would notice, though, since it wasn't much.

He grabbed the box of bandage wraps he had brought in the room and opened it. He pulled out one of them, and unrolled it to strart wrapping it around the cuts on his arm.

Then he moved onto the other arm. After that he slipped on his clothes and jacket, before making his way out of the door. However, without even knowing it, he left his bloodied razor on the shelf above the bathtub next to a bottle of shampoo.

He felt unsteady as he was walking to be honest, but he wouldn't let it show. Upon stepping out and turning off the light he saw Edward standing there with his arms folded. He was looking at him expectantly.

"I thought you left with Alphonse." William said simply.

"You may be able to fool Al, but you can't fool me, William." Edward told him.

"Ha...?" William smirked mockingly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me! I'm not stupid, and I've noticed things that you aren't even aware of."

"Like what?" William narrowed his eyes down at the blonde. Inside, he was panicking and irritated at the possibility that the nosy bastard knew his secret, but he forced himself to play it off like he wasn't dismayed at all.

"Well, for one, you wear long sleeves even when it's hot."

"So what, I'm cold natured." William held up a hand, shrugging dismissively.

"Also, your obsession with keeping bandages around."

"I told you. I like to be-"

" _Prepared_ , I know. But for _what_?""

William was silent for a moment, and before he could speak, Edward spoke again.

"You've been getting into fights, haven't you?"

William was taken aback at the suggestion, but found it was a much better alternative for Edward to think of than the truth, so he went along with it.

"And so what if I have?" William said, smirking.

"You're gonna pick a fight with the wrong person one day, you know." Edward sighed.

"Yeah, well, if I _do_ , it's none of your business, pipsqueak." William glared.

Edward sighed. He knew, however, that William wasn't the type to just give away answers, so he highly doubted it was the truth.

In fact, at this point, he would have to do his own research on this. He wanted to avoid it, but he couldn't allow Alphonse to worry so much. Alphonse didn't need to get involved. This was between him and William alone. However, it wasn't until after William took his leave, and Edward went into the bathroom to see the bloodied razor sitting on the bathtub that his least likely suspicion became his most likely suspicion and he became incredibly worried for the sake of his older brother.

 _"Cutting... He couldn't be... William would never...do that."_ His throat felt dry, andas much as he wanted to deny it, he just couldn't ignore it anymore. If William was hurting himself, somebody needed to know. As soon as possible.

That's when realization dawned on him.

 _"I just fell asleep."_

William's voice echoed in his head. If William had been cutting, it was possible he could have passed out from bloodloss. Thinking about it, he felt sick to his stomach for not realizing it before. What if William cut too deep one day and nobody was there to stop him...?

He didn't want to do it, but he had to ask an adult for advice. If not his mother, who he didn't want to worry, then somebody else.

 _\- End of Chapter_

* * *

 _ **A/N: So I'm thinking of the "somebody else" to be either Roy or Izumi. Who do you guys think I should bring in?**_

 _ **Give me suggestions if you can. And we'll probably be seeing more of Solaris and Lucien next chapter!**_

 ** _Also, thanks for the follows and favorites! I hope you guys will stick with me on this! I know Edward seems really skeptical, but I'm basing this off his 03 counterpart who even was skeptical the whole episode when it came to Tucker's chimera._**


	8. Chapter 8

**Empathy, Chapter 8**

 **No matter how I wrote this, though others said it sounded fine, I just couldn't get it to sound right to me, but I decided to go with it. Please note that I didn't want to make Lust out to be a literal slut, as I feel like people lust after her more than vice versa. But that won't stop her from using a 'relationship' to trick them. I kind of picture Lust as an grey ace in reality. In 03 especially, as Dante named her because she inspires lust in others, not because she herself is lustful. I see Lust as more asexual. Also, Lust doesn't remember a large portion of her past.**

...

It would be a lie to say that Solaris hadn't 'messed around' before. She had been approached by numerous people that claimed they had fallen for her, in fact. And at this point, it was hard not to wonder if the problem was in her alone, because there had been a few seemingly decent ones that had approached her. Even so, she never once felt obliged to emotionally invest herself in any of them, nor did she have a true interest in the concept of dating in general, even though she _had_ acted like she was with people before when there was something she wanted out of them.

But she knew what they were ultimately after, and therefore refused to give in. To her, most people were intolerable, and ever since she could remember, which was only up to a couple years back, she had had a very hard time growing attached to people, the exception being Lucien, who was like what one might call an older brother to her. Despite his usual brash and flirtatious attitude, he could actually be surprisingly tolerable and understanding, not that she cared for his sympathy. But other than him, there was always a wall between her and others that prevented her from getting close to them.

But it often left her pondering the question of why she was like that. She assumed it was something in her forgotten past that Lucien wouldn't speak about, but it was something she tried to avoid thinking on if she could help it.

She knew she had broke many hearts before, but if she didn't feel an attraction, she didn't feel an attraction, and if they were willing to put themselves into a position to be used, it was their own fault for being so gullible.

Most people, she knew, looked at her for her body alone and that made them easier to push around when she needed something. Humans were so disgusting and predictable, honestly. Tease them with what they want, and they'll run a mile until you give it to them, and despite appearances and common belief of her to be a 'slut', she never just gave people what they wanted in the end. She had more decency than that, and most certainly had some dignity that she planned to preserve if she could help it.

What she hated even more, however, was when a person was too polite, and treated her like some fragile vase, as she couldn't stand it. What was the point of a relationship if everything was handed to you and nothing was truly mutual? What was the point if your partner practically worshipped you instead of seeing you as an equal that they can be honest with instead of holding back their true thoughts constantly.

She just couldn't accept or appreciate such a position.

And like right now, she didn't feel remorse for her decision, even when she saw the young man's hurt face and the crowd around them.

"Come on, Solaris, there has to be a reason. Did I put too much pressure on you...? Did I somehow make you feel uncomfortable? I'm sure that we can work things out if we just try. Just tell me if you-" He tried to say, but Solaris cut him off.

"I've already made my decision. If you really loved me, you would respect my feelings and let me go, and nextly you would've been honest with me from the start. You surely wouldn't hide behind such a constant act of kindness. I don't want to be treated so special, just because I'm the one you 'love'." She told him, beginning to glare at him. He seemed taken aback at first before growing irritated.

"What's wrong with treating you special...?! How is that not love?" He retorted.

"You don't 'love' me; you're _infatuated_ and _obsessed_ with _idea_ of me. Even a fool can see it." She smirked, folding her arms.

"Fine, if you feel that way, then have fun finding somebody who gives a shit." The man glared, before storming off, tears in his eyes.

 _"Heya, don't you think you were a little harsh on him? I kind feel a bit bad for the guy."_ She could imagine Lucien scolding her, had he been here.

But instead, there was a sudden wistle before another voice chimed from behind her, "Wow, you're quite the heartbreaker, aren't you? Even _I'm_ a little surprised."

Turning around, she saw that it was William. Without thinking, she found herself smirking at his presence.

"Normal" people would be turned off by what she had done, and others would be angered by him mocking them, to add insult to injury. But neither were really phased and somehow even seemed amused.

"What are you talking about? It was his own fault for growing so attached. Humans can be so annoying and predictable sometimes." She told him, closing her eyes briefly before looking away. Upon hearing that, William was reminded of his own experience with his brother that morning. He had been agitated after his confrontation with Edward, but William had found his mood lightened a bit somehow after coming in on this, despite his initial hesitation to approach her. He was in fact intrigued by her now.

"You sure can say that again." He sighed, almost sounding relieved that somebody felt the way he did. "Honestly, they claim to care about and 'love' you, but in reality, they're selfish and only care about appeasing their _own_ mind, without a concern for _your_ feelings or desires."

He then held up his hands, shrugging a little, as he smirked. "They fail to see the hypocrisy in their own behavior and words, really."

* * *

 _ **A/N: I shall update again, once I can. This was so fucking hard to write.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Empathy, Chapter 9**_  
 _ **I know women wrestling aligators may seem crazy, but, come on, Izumi is the one who wrestled BEARS. It can't be**_ **that** _ **unbelievable when it comes to her. I had to come up with something.**_

* * *

Izumi Curtis was a role model to the Elrics and had been for a long time. When they first met, she was wrestling an aligator, who was trying to attack a child. When everybody else was afraid to approach it, she did so without hesitation. It was an amazing sight to see for practically everybody there.

Later, Edward and Alphonse had ran into her a few more times and once with Trisha.

"Mom, this is the lady we told you about before!" Edward shouted, exitedly.

"Yeah, the one who wrestled the aligator!" Alphonse added.

It turned out that she was an old friend of Trisha's, and Trisha, who had slightly doubted the boys' story before, had no choice but to believe them after she saw who it was, knowing all too well that Izumi was not above doing such a reckless stunt to save a life.

She had came over to their house a few times since then, and even if they wouldn't outright admit it in front of her as they got older, Edward and Alphonse had always looked up to her for her passion and fiery , they knew this fiery passion of hers was also something to fear at points, especially when she was dealing with a sick child.

"What are you doing just standing there?! Get me some more ice, Edward!" She shouted.

"O-okay!" Edward shouted back, a bit intimidated by her screaming, though he wouldn't admit it, as a bag of water, obviously once ice, was thrown at him. He rushed to the store front, sighing.

" _Old hag... That was just_ rude _._ " He grumbled beneath his breath, rushing to the store front. " _She didn't even greet me. She just started barking at me as soon as she saw me. She could have just done this_ herself _._ "

As much as his grumbling was aimed at her, he was appreciative that she didn't hear it, or was too distracted to focus on him, one.

"Hey, Sig, can I get some ice?" Edward asked Sig, who was chopping some meat.

Sig grunted, nodding. "It's in the freezer over there."

"Thanks." Edward smiled a bit, dumping the water from the bag into the nearby sink, before moving to the freezer. Grabbing a handful of ice, he ignored the burning cold and dumped it into the bag, closing the freezer as soon as possible. Edward wanted to question why Sig wasn't helping, and more importantly why Izumi wasn't fussing at him for not helping, but, upon hearing Izumi shouting to hurry up, he grew irritated before snapping that he was coming. _Hold your damn horses_ , he thought, but didn't dare say aloud.

"Now why are you here?" Izumi suddenly asked, as she took and placed the bag of ice in some paper towels, placing it over her son's head. Ivan must have had a fever, Edward had assumed, after having walked on on him crying in pain and his face a bit flushed. However, Edward couldn't bring himself to wonder much on it, as Izumi asked him the question he had been waiting for her to ask. But now that she had asked it, he didn't really know how to approach her on it, or what to say. He had thought of several ways to go about it, but now that he was here, he was afraid of how she would react after all, being in the mood that she was. But he really needed to talk to _somebody_ , as much as he wanted to keep it all to himself. And he _would_ have if it were just about him, but this was about his _brother_.

He looked down, avoiding her gaze as if he were ashamed of something.

"I..." He trailed off for a second, trying to ignore his racing heart that was due to him being put in the spot-light, and he suddenly began to question if had been a good idea to talk to her about it. He could see she wasn't in a good mood and didn't want to bother her further, rather he was afraid to. His chest clinched as he backed away, shaking his head. "No, it's nothing. I shouldn't have come without warning anybody beforehand."

Izumi's eyes softened upon seeing this, and sighed. "Wait, Edward."

He stopped upon hearing her tone soften. Izumi scratched her head awkwardly at having to tell a child this. "I'm just dealing with a lot right now. Come here."

Edward seemed to relax at her tone a bit, before following behind her. Izumi led him to a table in another room, pulling out a chair for him to sit in. "Now talk to me, Edward. What is it?"

He looked away again. "Somebody I know... I think they're purposely hurting themself, and I didn't know who to come to or what to do..."

Izumi was taken aback at the subject matter, but as not to scare off Edward, she decided to be as gentle as possible about such a matter. "That's a big accusation... Why do you think they've been self-harming?"

Edward was silent for a long moment.

"It's several things, but I found a bloody razor earlier that I believe they left there. To top it off, they never want to talk to me about anything, and they act like there's nothing wrong with obsessing over having bandages around." Edward thought he probably wasn't making any sense and came off sounding suspicious without reason. But Izumi, on the other hand, knew Edward wasn't stupid, and knew there was probably a lot more to the story than what he was telling her. Nine times out of ten, Edward's suspicions were not unfounded.

"So... Who is this person...?"

Edward wouldn't answer and curled in on himself a bit, fearing how she would react if he told her he didn't want her to know.

Izumi leaned closer and gently placed a hand on his shoulder after a moment. "Ed, look at me."

At hearing his nickname again, he could tell that she wasn't angry. But he had always had problems looking people in the eye when he was worked up or emotional.

"You can trust me. You know that, right?" She asked.

He finally brought himself to look up at her, meeting her gaze. He then looked away again, but finally was able to himself to speak again. "What will you do if you find out who it was?"

"That depends. What do you want me to do?"

"...I want to help them, but I don't fill comfortable giving out their name... I'm sorry..."

"You must really care about this person to be so worked up about them." Izumi gave a small smile, smirking when he seemed to sheepishly curl in on himself more.

"I... _want_ to..., but like I said, they never tell me or anybody anything... They always keep everything to themself and brood on their feelings, keeping people at arm's length and pushing others away. Our relationship has always been strained..."

"I don't know, but from your description, this person sounds a little like yourself." Izumi told him with a smirk.

"We're not alike...!" Edward stubbornly denied it, and his cheeks puffed out a bit, before his face turned serious and reminiscent. "Come on, first _Al_ , and then _you_...?"

"Well, maybe this person is afraid of letting themself to get close to anybody, because they're afraid of being left behind. Do you think there's something traumatic that's happened to them in their past that would cause them to automatically get on the defensive?" Izumi suddenly suggested.

Edward was silent again as he thought about it. "...Their father is rarely around and their mother is emotionally abusive."

At hearing that, Izumi began to wonder if Edward secretly wanted her to know who this person was just to get the weight off his shoulders. She was sure that he wanted to keep it from anybody that would cause trouble, but still wanted them to have a support network that they knew they could trust.

"They may have been closer to their father at one point. So maybe they don't want to let the same thing happen again... But can't they just see that there are people that care about them?..." Edward grumbled. Izumi had never realized how avoidant the boy was with eye-contact until now.

"Perhaps they do know, but they can't truly see it because they can't look past those who don't care." She said.

Edward wanted to know. "How can I get them to understand...?"

"You know the answer to that as well as I do, Edward. You can't make somebody see something they don't want to see."

"Then what do I do...?" Edward knew his questions weren't getting anywhere, but that didn't stop him from wanting to ask them. Izumi could tell that the last question probably wasn't even directed at herself, so she stayed quiet.

"Up until now, I've only been running away from truly facing them about anything because I was scared, and I realize that avoiding things will only make it worse for both him and me. But after this morning, I... won't forgive myself if something happened to him... I... don't want to get Alphonse or anybody else involved, but I don't know what to do... I..." Edward couldn't bring himself to look at her and looked more ashamed than ever. Izumi stood up, and walked around to pull Edward's chair around so she was standing directly in front of him.

"...Look at me." She kneeled down, holding both of his shoulders. However, he only looked away more. She grew a bit irritated at this.

"You heard me! Look at me when I'm speaking to you!" She snapped, causing Edward to jump, startled.

"Yes, ma'am." He said, growing tense, as he looked up to meet her gaze which was rather intense at the moment. Izumi's eyes softened again when their gazes met.

"Coming to me to talk about this must have been a very hard decision for you to make, wasn't it? I'm proud of you." She said told him. He seemed to blush at her compliment. "However, self-harm is a serious issue, so you may not be able to get through to him with words alone. You understand that, right?"

Edward looked away, nodding. "I know... But-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Izumi interrupted him with a small smile and a light squeeze on his shoulders.  
"But we'll work on that, alright? You don't have to deal with this alone."

Edward studied her for a moment, distrustfully, before giving a sheepish smile.

"Alright." He nodded. "Thanks, Izumi."

Izumi gave a fond smirk at that.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I hope this turned out okay. I'm not used to writing for a lot of these characters, much less Izumi, so this was kind of hard to write. And yes, Ivan is 03 Wrath, so her child didn't die.**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Story: Empathy, Chapter 10**

 **A/N: I know this is super short and probably crap, but I put my heart into it as much as I could, but I've been going through a lot recently and haven't had much time for anything. My brother ran away one day(got in trouble for it)(From him, I'm constantly hearing non stop complaining), and ever since things have been hectic. Things in this story will pick up soon, I promise! Right now, I'm kind of just slowly building up the characters, and building up some foreshadowing and things that will come into play later. I'm thinking of bringing in Hohenheim soon too (like in the next few chapters, or I might still wait a little bit). Or maybe I'll bring Dante in first, not sure. Please give me suggestions if y'all will and have something in mind! I like my stories to be interactive to a degree, so I'm interested to hear if there's anything people want to see in the story or think would be a good idea. :D**

* * *

William had always found some kind of comfort in riding trains when there weren't that many people on them. It felt good for the sole purpose of watching the world pass by with next to no worries. Sometimes, he just needed to get away for a little while. So when Solaris had asked him to ride the train with her, he didn't hesitate to take her up on the suggestion.

She was sitting beside him in silence. Neither had said anything for a long time, and for a while that was fine, but, after so long, it began to make him nervous, as he fidgeted with his jacket sleeves, ever so slightly flinching when he rubbed too hard, accidentally scratching against one of his cuts.

"It's quiet today." Solaris suddenly said, startling him.

He hadn't really expected her to say anything, but he found some relief when she had. He may not like too much noise, but he wasn't exactly fond of deafening silence either.

"Yeah, but I prefer it this way, to be honest," He said. "It's better than everything being loud as hell. People can be so annoying sometimes."

Solaris smirked in response at hearing that.

"Sometimes,... it does feel good just to get away."

"You got that right." William said. "I have to deal with my stupid step brothers every single day, and you can't imagine how annoying they are."

"Oh?" Solaris looked over at him with an interested expression. "You seemed to get along rather well with your brother, Alphonse, from what I could tell."

"I don't know if 'get along' would be the right word. More like I just 'tolerate' him rather well..." William muttered. "He's easier going with most people, though, not just me, so that's why I can put up with him. Edward, on the other hand... He's stubborn, we argue a lot, and he's really been pressing his luck lately. He kind of reminds me of my father, so that's why I can't stand him."

Maybe it wasn't the best to compare Edward and Hohenheim, but he couldn't help but feel like they were alike in some ways. He felt sick at even having brought up his father in Solaris' presence, it wasn't something that he needed or wanted to discuss right now. However, he forced himself to regain his composure, allowing a smirk to creep up on his face. "I often call him pipsqueak just to mess with him, and, _man_ , he really hates it. He's always had an inferiority complex when it comes to his height, so pushing it in his face and watching him get all flustered over it is just downright hilarious."

Solaris was silent, but was taking it in nonetheless. She smirked a little at William talking about his brother, even though it faded pretty quickly. Due to curiosity, she wanted to know more about William's father, but didn't press the matter, seeing how uncomfortable he seemed to get over the one mention that she was pretty sure wasn't entirely intentional.

William opened his mouth again, about to question Solaris's family, in the hopes that she wouldn't mind, but was surprised when she seemed to answer the question before he could even ask it.

"Unfortunately, I don't remember anything about my family." She said, looking off into the distance, deep in thought.

At hearing this, William didn't know what to think. He had heard of people having amnesia before, but had never directly came across one. Immediately, he became interested in finding out more about her situation.

"When you say you can't remember them, do you mean you're an orphan or that you literally have amnesia?"

"Amnesia. At some point, there's just a blank in my memory and I can't remember anything at all." She answered. "Sometimes, things feel familar, though, like I've been went through it or been around it before, but there's nothing beyond that."

"So... what's the deal with Lucien then?" William asked.

"What do you mean?" Solaris asked, glancing over at him.

William decided to clear things up so she wouldn't get the wrong idea. It was better to find out for himself instead of sticking to the assumptions he had been. Besides, now was the perfect opportunity to find out anyway, where it wouldn't seem too strange. "I mean... you two act like you've known each other for a while. Is he your boyfriend or something? Or do you think you've known him longer than that?"

Solaris's face was filled with surprise, before she looked away, amused by the suggestion. "He may have feelings for me, but I have no such interest in him."

She had questioned Lucien before on it, but he wouldn't give her straight answers other than that she was important to him, and would beat around the bush. He would never tell her the exact details of their relationship. Though... It wasn't like she exactly tried that hard to confront him. In truth, she was hesitant to remember her past, wanting to save it for a last resort if it was neccessary sometime. She supposed that resolve contradicted her interest in hearing others past though, so maybe she really did want to remember after all. "Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing... I was just wondering..." William said, feeling his cheeks burning a little, as he turned away.

"William," Solaris looked out the window, deep in thought. She could see William face her again from the corners of her eyes, before she looked him directly in the face, her eyes meeting his with longing for an answer to her feelings and apprehension. "do you think I should try to remember my past?"

William honestly felt out of place being asked for advice. However, thinking about his own past, he sighed, reaching up and interlocking his fingers behind his head.

"Well, I don't know what happened to make you lose your memories, but maybe it's best you _don't_ remember. You're liable to find something you really regret." He said, hoping that that was what she wanted to hear as it was his honest opinion. He kind of envied her for not being able to remember anything. If he could forget about and throw his own past away, he would without hesitation.

"You think?" Solaris responded in a soft voice. She gave a small saddened smile that William found to be uncharacteristic.

"Hey, if you insist on trying to remember it, I won't stop you. But, take it from me, who can't stand their past. Maybe it's better you just move forward instead of trying to look back since you have the choice, unlike me."

William found himself cringing at his own words, "move forward" which sounded like some empty advice Edward would have given.

"Move forward..." Solaris repeated softly, eyes full of rumination, before she felt more desperate than ever. "... _How_?"

William felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the look on her face. He swallowed, his chest feeling heavy. In an instant, he wanted, more than anything, to stop her from looking like that, but realized just how incompetent he was in this kind of situation, cursing himself for not being able to respond, when she was counting on him for an answer.

He looked down to his left side, to avoid her gaze. "I... don't know. Sorry..."

He had never felt so helpless in his life, and he didn't know why or how he was feeling this way. He wasn't usually the type to care about others, but he undeniably wanted to help her, to make her feel better. He didn't know what all she had been through, and only understood her situation on a cognitive level, so he didn't know what to say. He had never really been that great with empathy and stepping into the shoes of others.

After that, Solaris didn't say anything, and William found the silence to be even more suffocating than ever.

It was at that moment that William changed the subject, because of the atmosphere.

"I take it you like trains or something...?" He brought himself to ask.

"Not really." Solaris said, eyes full of thought and even longing. "But they carry a sense of calmness when I'm riding them that I can't place or explain. They also seem to be one of the only things that can help distract me from unwanted thoughts. So I find them quite relaxing, at least on days like this."

William hummed in response. He at least understood what she meant about trains being relaxing. He wanted to ask what the "unwanted thoughts" were, but didn't feel in the right to question it, considering the previous conversation. Things had only just got more awkward between them, even if he had just found a new understanding of her, and for a long while, once again, nobody said anything.

 _-End of Chapter_

 **A/N: I've never rode a train before, but sometimes I like riding in cars to get away and 'escape' from life myself as long as I'm in the mood for it, and I think that riding a train would be a lot of fun (I one day want to ride the Shinkansen in Japan just for the experience. I envy anime characters for always being able to ride trains, (tbh I want to ride a train more than I want to ride a boat or a plane. I think that trains would be even more relaxing than cars, but that's just me)**


End file.
